The Story of a Ukrainian Mechanic Who Sabotaged a Russian Yacht in Spain and Joined the Armed Forces

At the time of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Taras Ostapchuk, a 57-year-old senior mechanic, was working in Spain on the yacht Lady Anastasia. He was earning $250 a day, focused on saving money for his pension and a quiet return to Ukraine. But when the full-scale war began, everything changed, Taras said in a conversation with ArmyInform.

Early in the Russian invasion, Taras saw footage of a missile hitting a high-rise building on Lobanovskyi Street in Kyiv. "That’s when I made the final decision that this cannot go on, and something must be done," he recalls.

“I decided to sink the yacht I was working on. Why this particular yacht? Because its owner, Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Mikheyev, is the head of the Russian company Rosoboronexport. He is directly involved in the production of missiles that are being fired at us,” Taras said.

“As a senior mechanic, I had access to the engine room around the clock. I opened the valve to flood the yacht, and water started pouring in. But there were still three crew members on board: our guys from Odesa. And then, as they say, ‘my fellow countrymen helped’: they started yelling that we would lose our jobs... So, they notified the local police.”

A repair team from the port quickly arrived with a pump and stopped the flooding before it could cause significant damage. The yacht was eventually seized and is now docked in the Adriatic, out of service.

Taras was arrested but later released after a Spanish court determined that no legal grounds existed for his detention since there was no harm to Spanish interests.

“When I did this in Spain, I told myself: why would I need that job if I might not have a country? So, I can say to everyone: first, let’s defend our country, and only then we can think about our own businesses and interests."

After returning to Ukraine, Taras, accompanied by his son’s friend and activist Roman Ratushnyi, who was killed on the frontline in 2022, enlisted in the Ukrainian military.

“I joined the Dnipro Territorial Center of Comprehensive Services on March 1st,” he says. "For the past two and a half years, I’ve been working on military vehicle repairs."

Taras remains committed to helping his country in any way he can. “I’ll tell you this: at 50 and beyond, you can both live and serve. And it’s something we should do. So, if you have a skill or profession, you can contribute by repairing or helping in some other way,” he concludes.